Making his first start at catcher since Brian McCann returned from the DL May 6, Gattis hit a grand slam Wednesday against the Twins -- this coming on the heels of a pinch-hit go-ahead home run in the bottom of the ninth Tuesday, which itself came on the heels of a pinch-hit go-ahead home run in the bottom the eighth Saturday.

Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez has said he'll look for ways to get Gattis' bat in the lineup, and with this most recent surge, I'm guessing he'll be even more invested in the idea going forward, giving occasional days off to each of the Braves' starting outfielders, as well as Freddie Freeman. Gattis won't play every day, but in leagues that require the use of two catchers, he'll remain valuable all year.

Sandoval is expected to return soon. Joaquin Arias gets the spot start at third base.

"We wouldn't want to do that with him, but we've talked about different scenarios," Gardenhire said of Pelfrey starting Friday, per MLB.com. "Maybe sling him in the middle before somebody else starts. But we'll talk about that and straighten that out as we go along here."

The Rockies have said on record they want to go easy on Tulowitzki's legs. As such, it seems reasonable to expect they will have Tulowitzki sit most, if not all day games after night games, as Wednesday's tilt is.

"It's not mechanical at all," Hammel said, per MASNsports.com. "You try to mess with things that are pretty sound, you'll get yourself in even more trouble."

Hammel, who will be on the mound Wednesday against the Yankees, said in a recent side session he worked on his fastball command and keeping his pitches down in the strike zone to induce more groundball outs.

"This last (side session), all I did was throw fastballs, because that is what I've been struggling with, the fastball. Sometimes you have to go back to basics," he said. "It is not necessarily the (lack of) sink, but my pitches are up in the zone. Two-seamer has been good at times, but the misses overall with all pitches have just been too hittable up in the zone and badly executed. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with my pitches, but they've just been too hittable right now."

Perez, who began the season on the disabled list after fracturing his left wrist in spring training, is in line to be considered to start during Monday's doubleheader against the Diamondbacks. However, manager Ron Washington said Wednesday the team hasn't discussed Perez as an option, according to The Dallas Morning News.

Washington added the team wants to be certain Perez has built up his stamina to pitch a full game without limitations. Tuesday was the first time he surpassed 70 pitches in a start this season.

"He just started throwing and had a good game (Tuesday) night," Washington said. "We’re not going to take one game and all of the sudden he’s ready to pitch. We’ll make that determination when we feel we need to make that determination."